Hometown Christmas

Apple Fest is a wonderful community tradition that brings people together across the seasons. While best known for our large fall festival and parade, Apple Fest also proudly hosts the annual Christmas parade. This festive event features Santa and his elves, followed by a reading of the Christmas story and refreshments for families and friends. The popular Elf Contest is held during the Christmas season and serves as an Apple Fest fundraiser, helping support the next years Fun Zone.

In 2025, Apple Fest launched a new annual tradition with the first-ever Christmas Tree Lighting on the square. Partnering with the Bank of Billings, Apple Fest expanded the holiday fun alongside their Santa and His Deere evening. Guests enjoyed games, hot chocolate, and writing letters to Santa, all while the downtown square and gazebo were beautifully decorated. A generously donated Christmas tree stood at the center, glowing throughout December and filling the square with Christmas magic.

Apple Fest is more than a festival—it’s a celebration of tradition, community, and the joy of coming together.

Street scene during Christmas with decorated trees on lampposts, illuminated tractors, and people gathered outside a brick building at dusk.
Outdoor decorated Christmas tree with string lights and a sign that reads 'Merry Christmas from the Marionville Lions Club'.
A red mailbox with a white sign that reads 'Letters to Santa' on a patch of brown grass. In the background, there is a decorated tractor with green lights and a trailer, along with buildings illuminated with holiday lights.
Outdoor Christmas display with illuminated candy cane-shaped decorations and a large lit Christmas tree in a yard at dusk.
Costumed mascot of Marshall, the fire dog, waving at night with Christmas holiday lights in the background.
A small-town street decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments, with police and emergency vehicles, including a police car and fire trucks, on the road. Christmas-themed decorations hang from streetlights, and there's a snowman decoration on a fir
Girls in Christmas-themed pajamas and Santa hats participating in a holiday parade, holding colorful ribbons, with a marching band following behind on a city street.
Street scene with vintage cars decorated for Christmas, including a red car with a small Christmas tree on its hood, a gray car, and a black truck, with buildings and holiday decorations in the background.
A Christmas parade float decorated with holiday lights, greenery, and red fabric, carrying Santa Claus and children wearing Santa hats. Santa is sitting in the float with a girl beside him, waving. The float has a sign reading 'The North Pole Special